Coll 17/10(4) 'Internal: political situation; relations with HMG' [‎301v] (602/1031)

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was published in the press and Rashid Ali took over control of the Government
offices in the name of the Government of National Defence.
6 . The Regent, in the meantime, was spirited away from the American
Legation to Habbaniya, where I found him on the afternoon of the 2 nd April on
my arrival by air from Cairo. I had only time for a brief conversation before
I proceeded to Bagdad, but I did what I could to encourage him. The next
afternoon he and Ali Jaudat Beg were flown to Basra. He was joined two days
later by Jamil Madfai.
7. The first act of the Government of National Defence was to issue two
proclamations. The first appeared over the signature of the Chief of the General
Staff, Amin Zaki. It accused the Regent of treason, violation of the rights of
the nation and desertion of his post in time of crisis. It then went on to declare
that the army had provisionally entrusted full executive authority to Rashid Ali-
al-Gailani as head of a Government of National Defence. The second proclama
tion was signed by Rashid Ali. He declared that he had accepted the burden
of the position of head of the National Government as a patriotic duty, and
added that the programme of the Government would be to carry on Iraq’s national
mission, to honour Iraq’s international obligations, especially the Anglo-Iraqi
Treaty, and to keep Iraq out of the war.
8 . In Basra the garrison was at first friendly to the Amir Abdul Illah, but
later, on receipt of orders from Bagdad, the officer commanding attempted on
the 4th April to arrest his Highness and his companions. They fortunately
escaped and took refuge on board one of His Majesty’s ships in the Shatt-al-Arab.
The officer commanding then arrested the mutessarif, who had been loyally helping
his Highness, and sent him in custody to Bagdad. These events destroyed the
Regent’s hope of establishing a strong centre of loyalty at Basra from which he
could defy the junta in Bagdad, and apart from "giving him asylum there
remained little that His Majesty’s Government could do to help his cause.
9. In Bagdad Rashid Ali pushed forward rapidly measures to regularise
his Administration. He formed a High Defence Council consisting of the Chief
of the General Staff, the officers commanding the four divisions of the Iraqi army,
the officer commanding the mechanised force and the officer commanding the Iraqi
air force. The civil members were himself, Yunis Sabawi and Ali Mahmud (the
last two had been his supporters in the crisis which led to his fall in January).
He also got into touch with the embassy through the adviser to the Ministry of
the Interior. Through this channel he conveyed profuse assurances of his desire
to carry out loyally the treaty of alliance, and indicated that in order to obtain
the full recognition of His Majesty’s Government he was willing to put through
the following plan : the Regent to accept Taha Pasha’s resignation and to entrust
Rashid Ali with the task of forming a new Cabinet. The new Cabinet then to
sanction the Regent’s absence from the country for four months and the Sharif
Sharaf to act as Regent while the Amir Abdul Illah was away. He undertook
concurrently personally to broadcast to counter German propaganda, to implement
the alliance on a wider basis than before, to stop all agitation about Palestine and
Syria, to give control of publicity to the adviser to the Ministry of the Interior
and to prepare public opinion for a rupture with Italy. His military associates
would not, however, give time for a reply to be received to these proposals, and
under their pressure he summoned an extraordinary meeting of Parliament on
the 10 th April. A joint session of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies then
gave a unanimous vote in favour of setting aside the Amir Abdul Illah and
electing the Sharif Sharaf Regent in his place. Forceful methods were used to
persuade Senators and Deputies to attend and to vote in the desired manner
Some absented themselves, but 94 out of a total of 135 were present
10 . In a speech made after the election of the new Regent Rashid Ali
said :—
“ This national movement is entirely an internal movement having- no
connexion whatever with any foreign State. Our relations with foreign
States are based on the honouring of our international obligations in
accordance with our custom. I declare also that we shall honour the Anglo
Iraqi Treaty. We shall carry out and maintain this alliance and Irna will
continue zealously to fulfil this treaty, both in the letter and the spirit ”
11 . Immediately after his election the new Regent went to the Palace where
his first official act was to accept the resignation of Taha-al-Hashimi and his